Gokul Basker, founder of Indicus Paints and partner at VNC Group | Photo Credit: Joseph Roy

Doing up a room calls for way more than just picking the paint colour for the walls. Long before choosing a brand, homeowners think about how they would use the space: A distraction-free work den, a fun-themed child’s bedroom or a cosy balcony? They look for inspiration and lifestyle ideas first. To meet these consumers early in their shopping journey, Indicus Paints creates themed content on Pinterest that is centred around spaces such as home-offices, staircases and balconies.

The Pinterest presence has generated engagement for the relatively new brand, says Gokul Basker, Founder of Indicus Paints and Partner at VNC Group, a diversified manufacturing and distribution conglomerate based in Tamil Nadu. Around half a million consumers engage with the content each month, while total views have run into 4-5 million, along with saves and shares, since the company launched in 2021. He does not, however, draw a direct connection between the engagement and sales. The platform, he says, gives people space to explore options at an early stage, before finally choosing a paint brand.

This distinction matters in a category where the person buying the paint is not always the one deciding on the brand. Depending on the segment, homeowners may turn to painters, contractors, civil engineers, architects or dealers for advice and recommendations. The consumer may have a veto, but it is rarely exercised, Basker says.

For Indicus Paints, the VNC Group’s first consumer brand, awareness forms an important first step in a category that is getting crowded with the entry of many new players with big pockets (like Birla Opus). The Indian paints and coatings market is estimated at ₹1 lakh crore, with a CAGR of 9 per cent driven by rapid urbanisation, real estate activity and rising personal income. Decorative paints command 75 per cent of this market and Asian Paints is the clear leader.

Grabbing attention

Indicus, says Basker, is in the awareness creation phase, ensuring the name is not unfamiliar to a consumer when a contractor recommends it. He observes younger consumers taking a greater interest in paint selection today, researching colours and finishes, and arriving for the purchase armed with more information, compared with earlier generations. Instagram and other social media have made consumers more discerning, he says.

Advertising is one of the ways in which the brand is building initial awareness.

Basker says the mass-market communication uses humour and entertainment to establish Indicus as a new and bold brand. Longer-term initiatives such as co-title sponsoring the reality TV show Super Singer Junior 11 help in sustaining brand recall in a category where the consumer may repaint a home only once in several years.

Then there are the targeted efforts, such as Crosssections — a microsite within the brand’s website that’s focused on architects and people interested in art and culture.

One of the projects under Crosssections is Drishti Bommai: Reviving The Tradition, a documentary on the striking charm figurines seen across South India on rooftops, at the entrance of new buildings and on vehicles. The film looks at the cultural beliefs surrounding the figures, the visual symbolism of their distinctive features and the traditional craftsmanship involved in their making.

It also captures the difficulties faced by the artisans, as cheaper machine-made products and changing urban aesthetics affect the market for traditional crafts.

Crosssections helped draw the attention of architects to the relatively unknown paint brand, says Basker. After seeing the content on the microsite, architects, especially the younger crowd, reached out to Indicus for colour decks and meetings, he says.

Vivid impact

The brand’s advertising and cultural communication have prompted consumers to enquire about its availability in different parts of the country. Dealers have also received requests for specific products such as Ceiling Bright, the white water-based acrylic emulsion for ceilings, which is largely not available from other brands.

Basker distinguishes between consumer-facing communication and those curated for channel partners. “You can’t replace painter and dealer programmes with influencer marketing. Brands need to balance both,” he says.

Concurring with this, Xavier Prabhu, Founder of businesshubs Consulting, an independent brand consultant, sees paint as a category where intermediaries such as dealers, contractors and interior designers continue to influence purchase decisions.

At the same time, he notes that consumers today are more informed, with creators and digital content helping them understand products, applications and finishes. Vernacular creators, he adds, can play a crucial role in tier-2 and -3 markets.

Cultural signalling

Prabhu sees Indicus’ cultural positioning as a way of creating a distinctive signal for the brand. Its focus on Tamil Nadu and its cultural heritage helps differentiate it from larger national and international brands that typically approach India as a single market and communicate with a more uniform message.

If Indicus expands beyond its regional focus, it may need to identify cultural signals that resonate in other markets as well, Prabhu says.

For now, its brand-building effort is on two fronts — creating broad awareness through advertising and maintaining visibility in a category where purchases are infrequent, and targeted initiatives such as Pinterest and Crosssections to engage audiences on subjects that extend beyond paint.

Given that the buying decision involving paint can pass through several hands, the brand-building challenge is not simply about reaching the consumer but also being recognised when the conversation around the product does happen.

Published on August 10, 2026